The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body is establishing panels to review seven countries' complaints about Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as panels on Chinese, Canadian, Mexican and European retaliatory tariffs in response to those tariffs. The countries that requested a WTO verdict about the U.S. action include China, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Turkey and the European Union. All said that the tariffs, claimed as necessary to protect national security, are really safeguards, but the U.S. did not follow safeguard rules. The retaliatory tariffs, aimed to mirror the cost of the tariffs, are illegal, the U.S. argues. Countries hit by safeguard tariffs can raise tariffs in response, but only after a WTO panel says they can.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
Customs regimes should make sure authority exists to allow for examinations for potential under- and over-invoiced transactions meant to evade customs duties or conceal profits, the World Customs Organization said in a report on illicit financial flows through misinvoicing. "The Report was endorsed by the WCO Council in June and subsequently presented to the G20 Development Working Group in July 2018, which had originally tasked the WCO with the composition of a report" during a 2016 summit, the WCO said in a Nov. 15 news release. In addition to duty evasion, misinvoicing can be used to "disguise capital flight as a form of trade payment" and "bring illicit proceeds into the domestic legal financial system," the WCO said.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 16 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 14 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The United Kingdom has reached a draft agreement on how it can leave the European Union, according to a statement from Prime Minister Theresa May's office, reports said, and the British Cabinet will evaluate it on Nov. 14. May, who spoke Nov. 12 on "the new relationship we will forge with our European allies as we leave the European Union," said she was not compromising on what the Brexit voters asked. "Any deal must ensure we take back control of our laws, borders and money. It must secure the ability to strike new trade deals around the world," she said, according to a transcript of the speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet in London.